Democrats are challenging Dianne Feinstein like never before, but can anyone really sneak past this icon of California politics?

OR more than a quarter of a century, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein has been a Democratic party standard bearer and a powerful voice on Capitol Hill for women, gun-control and progressive politics unmistakably rooted in the Golden State. A fixture in California politics, she's now the oldest member of the Senate, and will turn 85 in June as she seeks her fifth full six-year term.

So why is she now facing her most significant re-election challenge in decades – and being derided by some members of her own party? One answer is in the Oval Office – her critics think she's not loud enough in resisting all things Donald Trump. There's also a tug-of-war within a Democratic party being pushed leftward by its Bernie Sanders wing, and the free-for-all nature of a revamped California primary system that's now more inviting to intra-party challenges.

All that has turned what would typically be a shoo-in re-election bid into a battle. But are California's voters really up for a revolt that could possibly unseat Dianne Feinstein?

Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein

Who’s running against her?

More people than you think. Feinstein faces 31 challengers to her re-election on the June 5 primary ballot — nine fellow Democrats, 11 Republicans, a Libertarian, a Peace and Freedom candidate and nine others claiming no political party.

Most don’t stand a chance. But things are different since Feinstein steamrolled a token Republican in November 2012. The “top-two” primary California adopted that year will send the two candidates with the most votes — regardless of party — to the November election. With no well known or well funded Republican in the race, Democrats, who enjoy a big party registration advantage in California, are challenging an incumbent many feel isn’t liberal enough.

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What are the big issues?

Gary Reyes/Bay Area News Group Archives

Private insurance rates are soaring along with the costs for medical care like this ovary surgery at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View in 2017.

Health Care

California Democrats oppose President Trump’s call for repealing and replacing Obamacare with a Republican plan, and his move to end federal Obamacare subsidies and cut outreach funding. Feinstein has touted her defense of Obamacare and support for universal health care — coverage for everyone. But she has stopped short of supporting a government single-payer Medicare for All plan, such as proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders. Feinstein's leading Democratic challengers like de León and Hartson want a single-payer Medicare for All government plan. Republicans for the most part back the president's policies.

AP PHOTO/ERIC RISBERG

The witness gallery inside the lethal injection facility at San Quentin State Prison.

Death penalty

Feinstein shed her historic support for capital punishment, citing concerns about executing the wrongly convicted. That aligns her with top Democratic rival de León who opposes capital punishment. California voters in 2016 approved speeding up executions and rejected a death penalty repeal.

Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise

At the U.S. border in Tijuana, Mexico, in 2017 near the eight border wall prototypes in San Diego.

Immigration

California Democrats oppose President Trump’s calls for a border wall, deporting illegal immigrants, withholding federal funding from “sanctuary” cities, restricting travel from mostly Muslim countries wracked by terrorism and ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program allowing young “Dreamers” brought to the country illegally as children. Democratic candidates for Senate agree on the Trump “resistance,” but not on who would fight Trump hardest. Republicans for the most part support the president's policies.

AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File

An offshore oil platform off the coast of Santa Barbara.

Environment

California Democrats oppose President Trump’s withdrawal of the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement and back the state’s “cap-and-trade” regulations on the "greenhouse" gases blamed for warming the planet. They also oppose Trump’s fights with California over auto fuel economy standards, offshore oil production and desert mining. Democrat candidates agree on the Trump “resistance,” but not on who would fight Trump hardest. Republicans for the most part support the President's policies.

Photo courtesy of San Jose Police Dept.

An AR-15 style semiautomatic rifle seized during an arrest of a criminal suspect in San Jose.

Guns

Among Feinstein’s signature legislative accomplishments was her 1994 federal assault weapons ban. Congress let it sunset a decade later, citing inconclusive evidence it reduced gun violence. Now she and other Democrats want more gun controls than the rapid-fire “bump stocks” ban approved by the Trump administration, and have called for a new assault weapons ban and broader background checks. Republicans for the most part support the president’s policies.

Who’s got the money?

What do the polls say?

All of the recent polls give the incumbent a comfortable lead, and most put de León as the runner-up who would compete head-to-head with Feinstein in November. Among the more respected is the Public Policy Institute of California, where the most recent survey May 11-20 of 1,702 California adult residents found Feinstein maintains a double-digit lead over de León:

Among other polls, there have been a few outliers. A Survey USA poll last month had Feinstein leading with 39 percent followed by Patrick Little — yes, the neo-Nazi — with 18 percent and de León a withering 8 percent, tied with Rocky De La Fuente, and 17 percent undecided. Another early this month by One America News Network gave Feinstein 32 percent, James Bradley 19 percent, Erin Cruz 13 percent, de León 8 percent and Hartson 6 percent with 16 percent undecided.

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Who are the big backers?

Both major parties declined to endorse a U.S. Senate candidate for the June primary election. That's not a huge surprise for the GOP, with 11 little-known contenders in a race deemed a lost cause for Republicans. But Democrats snubbed Feinstein with their refusal to endorse.

Feinstein also has the nod from Vice President Joe Biden, U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the former House speaker, Gov. Jerry Brown and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, agricultural and farmworker groups. De León is supported by Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Fremont, and many unions including SEIU California, representing government workers, and the California Nurses Association.

Among major newspapers, the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento Bee, San Jose Mercury News and East Bay Times all have endorsed Feinstein.

Should I be wary of any ads?

A television ad for U.S Senate candidate Kevin De Leon.

The Super PAC A Progressive California, with backing from the California Nurses Association and National Nurses United, launched ads for Kevin de León last month arguing Dianne Feinstein isn't feisty enough toward Donald Trump. “We’ve never been fooled into thinking Donald Trump can be a good president,” de León declares, a reference to remarks Feinstein had made in San Francisco last August. It was similar to an earlier ad by the group that argued de León would deliver a more bare-knuckled “resistance” to Trump.

Feinstein later released a statement clarifying that “while I’m under no illusion that it’s likely to happen and will continue to oppose his policies, I want President Trump to change for the good of the country.”

A television ad for U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein

Feinstein’s ads have touted her endorsements and her leadership on gun limits as she pushes for another assault weapon ban like the one she authored in 1994 that Congress allowed to sunset. Her most recent ad also argues she has championed Obamacare and efforts to expand Medicare.

Hartson has hammered Feinstein with an ad of her own quoting Feinstein saying she would not support Sen. Bernie Sanders' Medicare for All bill “at this time” and arguing that after more than a quarter century in office, she never will. The ad argues Feinstein's Medicare for All enthusiasm is cooled by cash from health industry donors.

What’s the one defining moment of this race?

Without a doubt, this would not be much of a race at all if not for the Democratic Party’s refusal in February to endorse its stalwart incumbent in her Senate re-election bid. Though Feinstein still enjoys a huge advantage in polling, funding and name recognition, the party's decision to stand back has given her challengers and their backers its blessing to take her on.

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About the author

John Woolfolk is a reporter for the Bay Area News Group, based at The Mercury News. A native of New Orleans, he grew up near San Jose. He is a graduate of the UC Berkeley School of Journalism and has been a journalist since 1990, covering cities, counties, law enforcement, courts and other general news. He also has worked as an editor since 2013. Follow John Woolfolk on Twitter at @johnwoolfolk1‍